| Anyone else is reading some of them? While generic superhero stuff does not interest me mostly, a LOT of comic books and graphic novels I read are really brilliant, in most of cases surpassing most of anime/manga stories by a mile. For those who don't, this should serve as an introduction into that world with some recommendations. For those who do - it would be nice to discuss it. First of all a few recommendations for those who want to get into reading non-superhero Graphic Novels/Comics. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fables  Story: Deep in Downtown, New York, there's a secret community of strange people. Here, The Big Bad Wolf runs the sheriff's office, Jack(from beanstalk fame) is a local con man, Sleeping Beauty lives avoiding sharp things and all of this strange mess is held together by the community's authority, Miss White. Hundreds ago these fairytale creatures found shelter in our world after they escaped to there from their world, running from a genocidal force they could only identify as The Adversary. But escaping one's world, does not mean that you escape your conflicts or the consequences of the things you done, so tensions run high and the fragile balance of the community is maintained at any cost necessary. However, one day, a brutal murder of one of their own tips the scales. "No more Happily Ever After" is written in blood on the wall in the victim's apartment. The motive - unknown. The murder weapon - impossible to determine. This unlikely situation sets off a violent avalanche of cause and effect, old and new power-struggles renewed, old grudges remembered, old debts repaid. And it is up to Miss White to keep everything from falling apart - via any means necessary. After all, fairy tales are but a stories, they never tell everything, let alone the truth. The reality is far harsher - there's no "good" or "evil"...and everyone in the community has secrets they want to hide or sins they will eventually have to pay for. Opinion: A brilliant subversion of the genre, one of its first actually. Fables takes concepts that are known to us in fairytales and legends and turns them upside down and inside out. Snow White might be a meek and trusting princess in the stories, but she is cold, calculating and vengeful schemer in this, for example. Nothing is as it appears to be and the plot has enough twists to keep interesting. The story is separated into "story arcs", the first one being the murder. It slowly introduces us into the world of Fables, sets up politics and conspiracies within it and sends the reader off into a very compelling world full of gray morality and intrigue, leading towards its inevitable conclusion (yes the story is not indefinite and has a beginning and the end, with clear roadmap in between). No one is safe from death and the writer, Bill Willingham is often cited to be "G.R.R.Martin of comic books" in terms of cruel and sudden fates that befall the characters. Example Images: Invisibles  Story:The World is already lost. Unknown years ago, humanity was enslaved by an alien force. And they don’t even know it. The story follows a group of people who call themselves “The Invisibles” – a cell of “counter-culture” terrorists who use any means necessary to fight back the invaders. The group is led by a person who nicknames himself “King Mob” – an overly violent “stereotypically American” guy who wields strange powers and was responsible for assembling the group. The group consists of Lord Fanny, a transgender Brazilian shaman, “Boy” a former NYPD cop, “Ragged Robin” a mysterious, seemingly insane telepath and Jack Frost, a hooligan from Liverpool , who suspects he might be the reincarnation of Buddha. Opinion: Oh the “sort-of-superhero story that is not a superhero story”. A bizarre, violent, surreal tale of anarchy, espionage, religious-freedom and drugs, as well as social commentary on consumerism and modern society. Don’t…expect to make sense out of it. Example images: Lucifer  Story: Cast out of heaven, Lucifer Morningstar is completely and utterly done with religion. He does not care. He traded the concepts of rebellion and belief for something far simpler – running a bar in downtown Los Angeles, where all kinds of people and not-people come with their problems and joys. But Lucifer’s newfound place in the world and peace soon is threatened by the mission from God himself. Mission that might as well threaten his wishes to stay away from all the heaven stuff. Opinion: If there’s a way to describe this in few words it would be “Sympathy For The Devil The comic” – Lucifer likeable, albeit a bit dark anti-hero, with a complete disinterest in religion or humanity. It makes a very compelling and unique spin on the ages old biblical tale. Image examples: Preacher  Story: It’s the story of Jesse Custer, a preacher in a small town in Texas. In a bizarre incident (that involved death of his entire congregation) he is possessed by a supernatural creature who calls itself Genesis – a child between an angel and a demon, said to be able to rival even God Himself. Being possessed by Genesis allows Custer to command others to do whatever he wants. Custer, having a decent sense of what is right and what is wrong, sets off to the journey through USA in an attempt to locate God, who disappeared after birth of Genesis. He is joined by his ex-girlfriend Tulip and an Irish vampire Cassidy. Through their journeys they encounter many bizarre and surreal creatures, both human and not, as Jesse struggles to see any sort of meaning or purpose behind the bizarre series of events the conflict in heaven has dropped him into. Opinion:Certainly not for religious people. The preachers takes Old and New Testament, mixes it with cult movies and westerns and creates a bizarre yet strangely deep story of self-discovery, freedom and chaos. Preacher as storyline has been cited as influence to such renowned writers as S.King. Example Images: Sandman  Story: Morpheus, also known as Dream, lives in quite unusual family. His brothers and sisters, also known as Endless – all personify concepts of the human existence – Destiny, Death, Desire, Despair,Delirium and Destruction. The story centers around the journey of the said characters as they ponder the idea of human existence, encounter angels, demons, mortals and gods…and fulfill their roles. But first of all, it’s the story of the inevitability of change that always comes. Opinion: One of the best comic books ever written. Complex, dark, unique, with very fitting art reminiscent of Tsutomu Nihei’s works. The stories are heavy and macabre at the same time and told through viewpoint of completely non-human entities. It’s one comic book that continuously keeps winning awards and gaining critical recognition. Example Images: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Currently keeping up-to-date with Fables and Chapter 144(out of 150) was published few days ago. Holy Shit. Can't wait to see how this whole thing ends in just five more issues, but if we go by current pace and cruelty I can imagine... |
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| Good thread, and thanks for the recommendation. I only recently started to get into the comic world. And yes, Sandman is really fantastic. I don't think you have any idea of how deep a comic book can be until you read it. Some chapters like "24 hours" and "I Woke Up and One of Us Was Crying" litteraly blew my mind. I am a Death fanboy, so I read the spinoff Death: The High Cost of Living and Death: The Time of Your Life, which are quite good and also give some nice closure to some other characters from Sandman. I kinda liked Lucifer in Sandman, so since you recommend it, I might start the Lucifer comic book. I'll also add The Walking Dead. I only read 3 volumes for the moment, and it completely destroys the TV show. It has a better pacing, and so you get all the good stuff you'd find in the TV show without all the never-ending and bad soap opera. And finally Asterios Polyp. It's a simple but quite engaging romance with experimental storytelling and art. A random page to illustrate a bit what I'm saying: |
| Oh definitely there are a lot of great comics, it is a shame that many who think of comics from the US think just of super hero comics. In comparing manga with comics I see no point, plus there are a ton of manga that we never even get the chance to read, we are talking about 2 very different cultures and so much more, anyway this is a subject I have no interest in and it just leads to flaming, so I will stop here with it and continue with the comics topic. I tried all the ones you mentioned above, if I am not mistaken they were/are all published by Vertigo. I did not finish any of them but I plan to. Except maybe Invisibles, I don't think Morrison's writing is for me. Fables I read up to issue 29, I heard it is close to the end, you mention that too, I should get back to it. With Sandman I read the 1st 5 paperbacks, by far my favorite comic. The last story arc was just superb. A Dream of a Thousand Cats is also an amazing single issue story. Gaiman does an amazing job with the characters and the storytelling. I think by posting here I am in the mood to continue reading it. Other great comics not mentioned here and that I read are: Planetary - It's been a while since I finished it, it can be considered a Superhero comic I guess but it is far more complex than that, it deals with superhumans, human experiments, aliens, conspiracies, it has episodic stories and also an overarching plot. American Vampire - deals with vampires obviously lol, the story starts in the wild west and each story arc takes place a decade or so after the previous one, very well written, plenty of plot twists, unforgiving and you never know what might happen next, the art fits perfectly also. Fatale - I just started reading this one a few weeks ago, I read the 1st story arc, a very interesting take on the femme fatale with plenty Lovecraftian horror elements thrown in. Locke & Key - another comic with horror elements, written by Joe Hill, S. King's son, also a very good novel writer himself from what I've been told. Definitely another great comic, also love the art, the story so far deals with some interesting topics, another comic that loves to see its main character suffer, can be quite brutal at times, actually it starts pretty bad for our poor main characters. And there are some other titles that I definitely think people should try, will post some more maybe later, kinda late here atm and I will make even less sense than usually if I continue :) |
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| Yeah, Fables will end with Issue 150. By the time the issue 150 rolls out, its spin-off Fairest will also finish(since its used to tell stories and backstories of various characters in Fables). The ending is already finalized(has been for a while) and all Bill Willingham could promise is that there WILL be some characters left alive... There's also Fables alternate universe going on, The Unwritten, which focuses on a story writer who encounters the characters of his own stories(and eventually alternate versions of Fables characters). No idea how it is since did not get around to reading it yet, but it is getting decent reviews so far. Also read the Daytripper recently.  Very bizarre idea - every issue starts with life and ends with death of the exact same person, who starts the next issue unaware of what happened in previous one. Also how the hell could I forget Maus?  A very gripping, bizarre and satyrical recollection of memories of prisoners who survived nazi concentration camps.  |
AhenshihaelSep 19, 2014 1:53 PM
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| Maus was indeed great. I tend to read more superhero comics, but one non-superhero that was pretty great as a kid was Bone by Jeff Smith. It's been years since I read it though. |
| "Let Justice Be Done!" My Theme Fight again, fight again for justice! |
| I doubt The Unwritten is related to Fables, from what I know there is a crossover story in Unwritten between the two but that is it, that arc happens pretty late in Unwritten, I did not yet get to it. I started reading Unwritten a while ago and it is brilliant, it is written by the same guy who did Lucifer, it deals with stories within stories, the way stories shape the fabric of reality, it's a pretty challenging work. Definitely recommend it. Also, it is pretty close to the end. Sweet Tooth - post apocalyptic comic, the earth is inhabited by both humans and human-animal hybrids, it starts in a melancholic, quaint sort of way, in a quiet house in the woods where or main character lives, things however start to go bad pretty soon, as the word outside the woods is quite a demented one and you really don't know if there is anyone out there who can be trusted. Alan Moore's The Swamp Thing - well, it's Alan Moore...seriously this man is amazing, Watchmen, From Hell, V for Vendetta, Batman: The Killing Joke. Swamp Thing deals with a man turned into a monster, who doubts his identity and wonders if there is still something human in him now, he is not made of flesh and blood but a force of nature. Deals a lot with the supernatural, with some horror elements in some stories as well. 100 Bullets - neo noir that deals with power and corruption in contemporary American society. It has episodic stories that deal with a man in a black suit who offers certain people the chance for revenge by giving them a suitcase with a gun and 100 bullets that are untraceable even if caught in the act. The overarching plot deals with the man in the suit and the organization he belongs to, in the end his story is also one of betrayal and revenge. If you read issue 11, "Heartbreak, Sunnyside Up", it will definitely stick with you, perfect issue for me, it had quite an emotional impact. And many, many other. btw I am glad you made this thread, manga readers here might stumble upon it and discover some amazing new comics. |
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| Yeah have read 100 Bullets few months ago, forgot to add it into the thread. As for The Unwritten, the way people explained it to me, its basically alternate universe(which makes sense since in Fables ). The cross-over story arc actually spoils some quite bit plot twists in Fablesverse too(like the Adversary's identity), pretty much a lot of stuff up to Fables chapter ~90 or so. |
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| hmmm...yeah, I really can't say if that could be true or not, from the issues I read of Unwritten, about 10, there is no hint to that. And until the crossover arc I can't find any relation whatsoever between the 2 comics. Anyway, I don't intend to see what the crossover arc is about since I don't want to be spoiled. I will also have to read Fables before that Unwritten crossover arc then, did not know it contained that many spoilers on Fables. There is also a Fables game (The Wolf Among Us), it's a sort of prequel to the comics and from what I can tell it looks pretty good and it was quite well received by fans and critiques. btw I forgot to mention just how much I love the Fables covers for each issue, they are just stunning. I recommend everyone to check them out. Stunning, I say! |
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| Yeah, I love how covers look through the whole franchise. Very unique art style My favorite has to be the Fables Encyclopedia released a while back: And the 100th Anniversary Issue cover: The spinoff, Fairest covers are great too: |
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| Reading Fables is being published here 8/10 so far, really like the concept has a good sense of mistery 100 Bullets 6/10 so far, a bit weak Saga, top-tier stuff The Boys very manly We3 10/10 would feel again The Walking Dead, longest comic I've read so far And some more stuff |
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Blacksad's really good. It's a series of Noir Detective stories ranging from simple murder mysteries to big time conspiracies but instead of people, they're animals. I know it sounds silly but it's incredibly good ESPECIALLY if you're a big fan of Film Noir like I am |
| So yeah, Fable 146 hit(and we are 4 issues away from the end) and this happened [/spoiler] So yeah Speculated this would happen but not in such a way. Snow will be PISSED when she finds out who has the ring now. Now I am 100% sure that the final confrontation will be and no matter the outcome, everyone will lose. |
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| Personally a huge Tank Girl fan. Luv Jamie Hewlett. |
| (っ◔◡◔)っ just on my dumb shit |
| Sin City is my personal favourite |
Take care of yourself |
OK, forgive me for intruding on this thread, but I have read some non-superhero/non-licensed properties graphic novels recently and they're very interesting to read if you want something that ain't superhero and something that feel closer to manga in term of narrative (art and drawing will not be talked about in this post):     I'm sure there are more comic book/graphic novels out there that are just as good as the one I listed above. I'm aware there are one that come close to manga when it comes to plot/narrative storyline. |
| Here are some of my comic book recommendations: |
 "Don't let your memes be dreams."- Ancient Japanese proverb, probably |
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